Army Pfc. Bradley Manning is due back at Fort Meade this week, where lawyers for the alleged WikiLeaker plan to argue that he was punished at a military brig before his case had been heard — grounds, they say, to dismiss all charges against him. By the time he arrived at the Marine Corps brig at Quantico, Va., Manning was world famous. The former intelligence analyst, who lived in Maryland before enlisting in the Army, had been accused of giving hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.

Col. Denise R. Lind, the Army judge who sentenced Pfc. Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison today after finding him guilty of turning hundreds of thousands of classified documents over to the anti-secrecy site WikiLeaks, clearly did not buy prosecutors' arguments that he was a self-aggrandizing traitor who deserved to spend the rest of his life behind bars. Nor did she completely accept the defense's claim that Mr. Manning was an emotionally troubled young man who had acted only out of patriotism to alert Americans to what he perceived to be government wrongdoing committed in their name.

A new piece of music rarely makes the impact Michael Daugherty's "Metropolis Symphony" made last night in Meyerhoff Hall. The audience, especially its younger members, was vocal in their appreciation when David Zinman and the Baltimore Symphony finished this 40-minute, five-movement work.The "Metropolis Symphony" is a work one either loves or hates. It's too loud to ignore (the Mahler-sized orchestra features an impressive percussion battery), and it has all the brashness and exaggeration that characterizes the source of its inspiration in the comic book exploits of Superman.

Bradley Manning, the junior Army analyst convicted of espionage for leaking thousands of classified documents, was sentenced to 35 years in prison Wednesday, reigniting a debate over how far the government should go to punish those who disclose secret information. The sentence was far less than the 60-year imprisonment military prosecutors had sought and the 90-year maximum sentence the 20 convictions against him carried. Manning will appeal the ruling and will be eligible for parole after serving seven years at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., his attorney said.

Attorneys for Pfc. Bradley Manning opened their defense of the Army analyst Monday by portraying him as a computer whiz operating under loose guidelines whose decision to leak reams of classified documents was based on a well-intentioned sense of idealism. As Manning's court-martial at Fort Meade entered its sixth week, his defense team also filed a series of motions asking the military judge to dismiss the most serious charges against him — including that he aided the enemy by providing diplomatic cables, war logs and combat videos to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.

Col. Denise R. Lind, the Army judge who sentenced Pfc. Bradley Manning to 35 years in prison today after finding him guilty of turning hundreds of thousands of classified documents over to the anti-secrecy site WikiLeaks, clearly did not buy prosecutors' arguments that he was a self-aggrandizing traitor who deserved to spend the rest of his life behind bars. Nor did she completely accept the defense's claim that Mr. Manning was an emotionally troubled young man who had acted only out of patriotism to alert Americans to what he perceived to be government wrongdoing committed in their name.

The former commander of the Marine Corps base at Quantico, Va., told a military court on Tuesday that accused WikiLeaker Bradley Manning was held in highly restrictive "prevention-of-injury" custody even though psychiatrists recommended the conditions be eased. Retired Marine Col. Daniel J. Choike told the court at Fort Meade that he agreed with the staff of the brig at Quantico that Manning should be kept on prevention-of-injury status based on his history, the seriousness of the charges against him and what he called his "erratic behavior.

The latest in the enticing "Chamber Music by Candlelight" series showcased Baltimore Symphony members in a diverse mix of repertoire Sunday evening at Second Presbyterian Church. It was refreshing to hear the Violin Sonata by Amy Beach, one of America's most absurdly overlooked composers. Yes, the piece sounds a lot like Brahms, Strauss and other Europeans, but a distinctive stamp can be detected, too. Violinist Ivan Stefanovic and pianist Amy Klosterman plunged into the super-heated romanticism with intensity and flair.

Bradley Manning, the junior Army analyst convicted of espionage for leaking thousands of classified documents, was sentenced to 35 years in prison Wednesday, reigniting a debate over how far the government should go to punish those who disclose secret information. The sentence was far less than the 60-year imprisonment military prosecutors had sought and the 90-year maximum sentence the 20 convictions against him carried. Manning will appeal the ruling and will be eligible for parole after serving seven years at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., his attorney said.

- The commander of the Army Military District of Washington has approved the findings of the court-martial last year of WikiLeaker Chelsea Manning. Manning, who served as an intelligence analyst for the Army in Baghdad in 2009 and 2010 as Pfc. Bradley Manning, was accused of giving hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks. She was tried last year at Fort Meade, found guilty of 20 offenses and sentenced to 35 years in a military prison. Maj. Gen. Jeffrey S. Buchanan approved the findings and the sentence last week, officials said Monday.

Attorneys for Pfc. Bradley Manning opened their defense of the Army analyst Monday by portraying him as a computer whiz operating under loose guidelines whose decision to leak reams of classified documents was based on a well-intentioned sense of idealism. As Manning's court-martial at Fort Meade entered its sixth week, his defense team also filed a series of motions asking the military judge to dismiss the most serious charges against him — including that he aided the enemy by providing diplomatic cables, war logs and combat videos to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.

The former commander of the Marine Corps base at Quantico, Va., told a military court on Tuesday that accused WikiLeaker Bradley Manning was held in highly restrictive "prevention-of-injury" custody even though psychiatrists recommended the conditions be eased. Retired Marine Col. Daniel J. Choike told the court at Fort Meade that he agreed with the staff of the brig at Quantico that Manning should be kept on prevention-of-injury status based on his history, the seriousness of the charges against him and what he called his "erratic behavior.

Army Pfc. Bradley Manning is due back at Fort Meade this week, where lawyers for the alleged WikiLeaker plan to argue that he was punished at a military brig before his case had been heard — grounds, they say, to dismiss all charges against him. By the time he arrived at the Marine Corps brig at Quantico, Va., Manning was world famous. The former intelligence analyst, who lived in Maryland before enlisting in the Army, had been accused of giving hundreds of thousands of classified documents to the anti-secrecy group WikiLeaks.

The latest in the enticing "Chamber Music by Candlelight" series showcased Baltimore Symphony members in a diverse mix of repertoire Sunday evening at Second Presbyterian Church. It was refreshing to hear the Violin Sonata by Amy Beach, one of America's most absurdly overlooked composers. Yes, the piece sounds a lot like Brahms, Strauss and other Europeans, but a distinctive stamp can be detected, too. Violinist Ivan Stefanovic and pianist Amy Klosterman plunged into the super-heated romanticism with intensity and flair.

A new piece of music rarely makes the impact Michael Daugherty's "Metropolis Symphony" made last night in Meyerhoff Hall. The audience, especially its younger members, was vocal in their appreciation when David Zinman and the Baltimore Symphony finished this 40-minute, five-movement work.The "Metropolis Symphony" is a work one either loves or hates. It's too loud to ignore (the Mahler-sized orchestra features an impressive percussion battery), and it has all the brashness and exaggeration that characterizes the source of its inspiration in the comic book exploits of Superman.

To launch her second season at the controls of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, music director Marin Alsop set her sights on the final frontier. Using an engulfed Valhalla as a sort of launching pad, last night's journey at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall was steeped in imagery of alien beings, things and places. The Valhalla part came in Brunnhilde's "Immolation Scene" from Wagner's Gotterdammerung, that drama-rich finale to the Ring Cycle, when the realm of the gods goes up in flames, paving the way for renewal of the human domain.

ART REIGNS First it sweltered, then it poured, but the weather seemed hardly to dampen the enthusiasm of the crowds that descended on Artscape, Baltimore's 25th annual outdoor festival of the arts. From funnel cakes to evening concerts there was much that was familiar along the Mount Royal Avenue corridor and elsewhere around the city - but there also were new touches including the 100-foot-tall Ferris wheel in front of the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall and the fireworks on Friday's opening night.